Monthly Archive for June, 2011

Three songs were all over the radio and TV when Kelly and I were in Iceland in 2003 for our honeymoon, and I find that they frequently pop into my head.

“Be Faithful” by Fat Man Scoop

I love the sampled from “Chic Cheer” & Black Sheep, but what gets me about this song is how in your face is. It’s exhausting to listen to, and the video is a little terrifying.

“Slow” by Kylie Minogue

I like all the whitespace in this one. Weird that the video takes place poolside because all I think about when I hear it is the frozen Reykjavik landscape. If I remember correctly, I took this picture out the window of of our bus back to Keflavik:

“Call of the Wild” by Gus Gus(Warning! It’s gross.)

Sorry about this one! When the video for this was on in our hotel room, we couldn’t stop watching. I can’t imagine this ever playing on US TV. Definitely recontextualizes the title and lyrics.

After a helping a friend set up a new blog this week, I realized it was time to revive DRNRN!, which I’d been planning to do for months now. Mostly after seeing what Kaleb’s been doing over at Dynamite Chair, I’ve been thinking of changing my approach (which had been to post single tracks from my record collection) to focusing more on single tracks from anywhere, if they mean something to me. So, here goes.

This one is still a bit of a vinyl story, since it involves the new single from Baxter Dury that arrived in the mail yesterday. It was technically a Record Store Day 2011 release, but since the US has consistently slept on Dury, it was only available in the UK. I bought it from Banquet Records last week and it came very quickly. (Aside: have you noticed how much more skillfully packed parcels from England tend to be? So slender, yet so strong!) The person who packed the 45 left a little note for me along the lines of “Thanks for your order. Did you manage to pick up any other RSD ’11 items? -Chris.” I was dying to answer yes, I did, but realized I couldn’t. I imagine he knows I did.

The b-side is an equally great song, “The Sun.” Both are a little crisper and brighter than his other records, but very much in the same vein. Baxter’s songs are so different from his father’s in almost every way, but the wryness, the humor, and the effortless way they inhabit the characters in their songs. Here they are together on the cover of New Boots and Panties: